CWA Asset Management Group LLC Purchases New Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,409 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $377,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the second quarter worth $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth approximately $41,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the second quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the first quarter worth approximately $49,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VRSK. Barclays raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $285.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total value of $54,266.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 15,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,289,184.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK opened at $285.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $270.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $264.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.25 billion, a PE ratio of 44.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $288.39.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The company had revenue of $725.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

About Verisk Analytics

Verisk Analytics, Inc provides data analytics and technology solutions to the insurance markets in the United States and internationally. It offers policy language, prospective loss costs, policy writing and rating rules, and various underwriting solutions for risk selection and segmentation, pricing, and workflow optimization; property- and auto- specific rating and underwriting information solutions that allows clients to understand, quantify, underwrite, mitigate, and avoid potential loss for risks; catastrophe modeling solutions, which enables companies to identify, quantify, and plan for the financial consequences of catastrophes for use by insurers, reinsurers, intermediaries, financial institutions, and governments.